Part 5
The thought should have made her feel safer.
It did not.
Vivian looked at the phone as though it could speak without being touched.
“What is on it?” she asked.
Chloe met her eyes.
“You tell me.”
Vivian said nothing.
Chloe scrolled through the recovered files.
Her thumb shook only once.
Then she found the recording.
She did not press play.
Not yet.
“I am going to let Gabriel hear it,” Chloe said. “Then he can decide what he believes.”
Vivian’s voice lowered.
“You think he will believe you?”
“I don’t know.”
“You should.”
Chloe looked up.
Vivian stepped closer.
“Three years ago, he believed you had betrayed him. He believed you had taken something private from his mother and handed it to strangers. He believed you had used his family for a story.”
“That was because you made sure he believed it.”
“No.” Vivian’s face tightened. “He believed it because it made sense to him.”
The words hit harder than Chloe expected.
Vivian saw that they did.
“You were always closest to Margot,” she said. “You had access to the files. You were angry at Gabriel. You had reasons to leave. And when the recording appeared, you vanished.”
“I left because he told me not to come near him.”
“He told you he needed time.”
“He told me he could not look at me.”
Vivian’s gaze held hers.
“And you still want to hand him a phone and make him feel guilty for what he did.”
Chloe closed the case.
“I want him to know what happened.”
“Why now?”
“Because I found the truth now.”
“No.” Vivian’s voice rose, just slightly. “Why now, Chloe?”
The question echoed down the corridor.
Chloe felt heat rise under her skin.
Because Gabriel was engaged to Vivian.
Because the invitation to the family dinner had come without explanation.
Because a part of Chloe had wondered whether Gabriel had asked Margot’s old lawyer to contact her.
Because she wanted to see his face when he realized he had been wrong.
Because she wanted, shamefully and honestly, to know whether there was still any part of him that loved her.
But Vivian did not deserve that answer.
“Because I’m done carrying your version of my life,” Chloe said.
Vivian went very still.
Outside the windows, the river flashed beneath the fading light.
For a few seconds, neither woman moved.
Then Vivian smiled.
It was not a pleasant smile. It was the expression of someone who had reached the end of pretending.
“You think you are brave now,” she said.
Chloe did not answer.
“You came back wearing gold and carrying evidence, and you think that makes you strong.”
“I did not come here for you.”
“But you are here because of me.”
“No.”
Vivian tilted her head.
“Then why are you shaking?”
Chloe looked down at the phone in her hand.
She was shaking.
Not violently. Not enough for anyone else to notice from a distance. But Vivian stood close enough to see the faint tremor in her fingers.
The sight of it made Vivian’s eyes soften.
That softness was more frightening than the anger.
“You should have stayed away,” Vivian said.
Chloe’s mouth went dry.
“Why?”
“Because he was finally moving on.”
“You mean you were finally winning.”
Vivian’s expression changed.
“I was trying to build a life.”
“By destroying mine?”
“Your life was already broken.”
The words came out before Vivian could stop them.
They hung in the air.
Chloe stared at her.
Vivian’s mouth tightened. She looked briefly toward the stairs, toward the empty foyer below.
Then she said, “You left him. You left the foundation. You left the city. You made everyone believe you were the victim, and then you disappeared before anyone could ask you questions.”
“I disappeared because you made it impossible to stay.”
“I made it impossible?”
“You sent the message from his phone.”
“You cannot prove that.”
“I can prove you were there.”
“In Margot’s office. Helping her.”
“You were not helping her.”
Vivian’s face hardened.
“You have no right to say that.”
“I have every right.”
“No.” Vivian stepped closer again. “You had a right once. You had a right when Gabriel loved you, when Margot trusted you, when everyone thought you were so gentle and so decent. You had a right when you could walk into this house and make people feel sorry for you without even trying.”
Chloe’s grip tightened around the leather case.
“You hated me.”
Vivian looked at her.
The truth sat between them.
Not a question.
Not anymore.
Vivian’s eyes brightened, but she did not cry.
“Yes,” she said.
The answer was almost a relief.
Chloe felt it land somewhere deep and old.
“Why?” she asked.
Vivian laughed once.
“Because you never had to work for him.”
May you like
Chloe stared.
“I worked for everything,” she said.
